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Estado Y Compañía Explotadora

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Estado Y Compañía Explotadora CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano: Portal de Revistas Académicas Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano. TIEMPO HISTÓRICO. N°3 /147-165/. Santiago-Chile. 2011. ESTADO Y COMPAÑÍA EXPLOTADORA. APUNTES PARA UNA CARACTERIZACIÓN DEL PODER COLONIAL EN RAPA NUI (1917-1936)* Miguel Fuentes** Cristián Moreno Pakarati*** Alejandro Montecinos**** RESUMEN ABSTRACT Este trabajo busca aportar con algunos ele- This paper seeks to contribute to the charac- mentos para una caracterización de la situa- terization of the situation of colonial power ción del poder colonial en Rapa Nui duran- in Rapa Nui during the 1917-1936 period. te el periodo 1917-1936. Teniendo por base Based on the study of documents acquired la revisión de documentos provenientes del from the archives of the Naval Ministry and Archivo del Ministerio de Marina y del Ar- the Administrative Division of Valparaíso, chivo de la Intendencia de Valparaíso, lle- varemos a cabo una reflexión en torno a la the study provides a reflection on the ac- acción del Estado chileno y la “Compañía tions of the Chilean State and the “Com- Explotadora de Isla de Pascua” durante estos pañia Explotadora de Isla de Pascua” during años. those years. CLAVES KEY WORDS Rapa Nui, estado, compañía, poder colo- Rapa Nui, state, company, colonial power. nial. Recibido: 07 de diciembre de 2011 Aceptado: 06 de enero de 2012 * Se agradece la colaboración de los miembros del proyecto de investigación en el cual se inserta este artículo: “La Compañía Explotadora de Isla de Pascua. Patrimonio, Memoria e Identidad en Rapa Nui”, a cargo de Claudio Cristino y Miguel Fuentes (FONDART 2010, V Región). Agradezco además la ayuda de Alberto Hotus, Felipe Pakarati y Rolf Foerster, con quién llevé a cabo un trabajo de colaboración mutua en el Archivo del Ministerio de Marina durante el año 2010. Finalmente, es importante mencionar el importante apoyo de Elizabeth Grant (lingüista) y Riet Delsing (antropóloga) en la elaboración de este trabajo. ** Licenciado en Antropología con mención en Arqueología. Universidad de Chile. Correo electrónico: [email protected] *** Licenciado en Historia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Correo electrónico: [email protected] **** Licenciado en Historia. Universidad de Santiago de Chile. Correo electrónico: [email protected] 147 Estado y Compañía explotadora. Apuntes para una... acia comienzos del siglo XX, promoviendo una reconfiguración del se desarrolla en Rapa Nui uno marco de relaciones sociales en Pascua. de los más importantes levan- Htamientos indígenas en contra del do- A continuación, teniendo por minio colonialista de la isla y las opre- base la revisión de documentos prove- sivas condiciones de vida impuestas por nientes del Archivo del Ministerio de la “Compañía Explotadora”. Esta fue la Marina y del Archivo de la Intendencia llamada “Rebelión de Angata”, desarro- de Valparaíso, este artículo se propone llada a mediados de 1914 y descrita por desarrollar, a partir de una reflexión en varias fuentes contemporáneas: Por los torno a la acción del Estado chileno y la documentos de un sumario de la Ar- “Compañía Explotadora”, una caracteri- mada llevado a cabo en la isla en 19141, zación inicial de la situación del poder por el relato de los nativos obtenido por colonial en Rapa Nui durante el periodo 6 el profesor Vives Solar2 y finalmente el 1917-1936 . relato testimonial de Katherine Rout- ledge3. Aunque derrotada4, esta rebelión tuvo como efecto dar inicio a una serie EL ESTADO de significativos cambios en la estructu- ra política de la presencia colonial en la ¿Qué forma de Estado existe en isla. Pascua durante este periodo? ¿Cuál es el carácter de la presencia estatal? ¿Co- Producto del desarrollo de esta re- lonialismo? No hay duda. Sin embargo, belión y de la necesidad de impulsar un ¿cuál es la naturaleza de este último? nuevo “pacto colonial” entre el Estado, la Comunidad rapanui y la Compañía Una primera cuestión que resalta Explotadora, el gobierno realiza en 1915 en este punto es, sin duda, el carácter se- la designación de un Subdelegado Ma- mi-colonial (atrasado) de la propia “po- rítimo independiente (nominalmente) tencia” anexionista: Chile7. A diferencia de la CEDIP5. Igualmente, la firma del de los grandes imperios coloniales de la “Temperamento Provisorio” de 1917 época, la presencia chilena en Polinesia significa el establecimiento de un nuevo se destacó, efectivamente, por poseer un contrato entre la Compañía y el Estado, carácter sumamente precario. Durante 1 Consejo de Jefes de Rapa Nui, Alberto Hotus y otros, Te Mau Hatu ‘o Rapa Nui: Los soberanos de Rapa Nui. Pasado, presente y futuro (Santiago: Editorial Emisión, Primera edición, 1988). 2 José Ignacio Vives Solar, “Una revolución en la Isla de Pascua en 1914” en Pacífico Magazine, vol. X, 60 (1917): 655-664. 3 Katherine Routledge (Mrs. Scoresby Routledge), The Mystery of Easter Island (London: 1919). 4 Si bien es cierto que la alianza CEDIP-Estado logró asestar un importante golpe en contra del movimiento indígena liderado por Angata, es necesario mencionar que esta rebelión obtuvo algunas ventajas estratégicas para los rapanui, en especial la disminución del poder de la Compañía en la isla. 5 CEDIP: Compañía Explotadora de Isla de Pascua. 6 Para una revisión sintética de los antecedentes de la colonización europea y chilena en Pascua, revisar Claudio Cristino et al. Isla de Pascua: Proceso, Alcances y Efectos de la Aculturación (Santiago: Instituto de Estudios Isla de Pascua Universidad de Chile, 1984). 7 Para un desarrollo de esta afirmación pueden revisarse los siguientes trabajos: Luis Ortega, “Acerca de los orígenes de la industrialización en Chile, 1860-1879”, en: Nueva Historia 2 (1981): 3-54 y Gabriel Salazar, Historia de la acumulación capitalista en Chile: apuntes de clase (Santiago: editorial LOM, 2003). 148 Miguel Fuentes / Cristián Moreno P. / Alejandro Montecinos gran parte del periodo 1917-1936, Pas- tación del periodo, el arribo anual de cua fue considerada, en los hechos, tan misiones de la Armada. Estas misiones solo como un “territorio fiscal” destina- cumplían el papel de informar al Minis- do a la explotación privada de una po- terio de Marina acerca de la situación en derosa firma extranjera8. Durante estos la isla, así como la tarea de resguardar la momentos, aunque defendiendo su so- obediencia de las autoridades locales y beranía política sobre la isla, el gobierno la población a las directrices del gobier- ni siquiera fue capaz de certificar la pro- no. Al mismo tiempo, dichas misiones piedad fiscal de este territorio, así como debían velar por el cumplimiento de los tampoco de exigir a la CEDIP el cobro acuerdos entre el Estado y la Compañía de un canon de arrendamiento por la establecidos por el Temperamento de utilización de las tierras y el ganado exis- 1917, a la vez que controlar y regular el tente en Rapa Nui9. desempeño de los subdelegados. Otra de las funciones de estas misiones con- Con todo, a pesar de sus limita- sistía en resolver los conflictos que se ciones, la acción del aparato estatal llegó suscitaban entre la población y las au- a ejercer un alto impacto en el contexto toridades, realizando para ello investiga- isleño. La existencia de instituciones gu- ciones sumarias en las cuales se recababa bernamentales permanentes encargadas información de las partes en desacuer- de la regulación de la vida de los nativos, do. Generalmente, con el aval de fuertes constituyó en este sentido una influen- contingentes armados, las decisiones de cia que afectó fuertemente el marco so- los comandantes de la Armada tenían cial rapanui. Tanto el arribo periódico un carácter resolutivo, siendo respetadas de funcionarios militares, civiles, profe- transversalmente. sionales y la llegada una vez al año de barcos de la Armada, con el peligro la- Aunque por cortos periodos, la tente de la deportación10, dotaron al po- llegada de estas misiones tenía por re- der estatal de una corporeidad imposible sultado un sustantivo fortalecimiento de ser soslayada. de las instituciones y del poder estatal en la isla. Durante algunos días, los co- En general, la presencia del Estado mandantes parecían tener la capacidad chileno en Rapa Nui se manifiesta de di- de “resolverlo todo”, desde cuestiones de ferentes formas. Una de las más impor- orden meramente administrativo has- tantes fue, como constata la documen- ta problemas de tipo moral como, por 8 Más allá de producirse durante estos momentos una mayor integración de este territorio en el marco nacional, dicha situación queda de manifiesto en las tratativas impulsadas por el gobierno chileno (producto de la crisis económica mundial de 1929) para arrendar o vender la isla a algunas potencias como Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Japón o Alemania. Los primeros contactos fueron en el gobierno de Ibáñez (1930) y casi se consigue durante el segundo gobierno de Alessandri Palma (1937), siendo los únicos interesados EEUU y Japón. De esta manera, la transformación de Rapa Nui en “Parque Nacional” y “Monumento Histórico” durante los años 30’s podría en tenderse, igualmente, como una política de “puesta en valor” de la isla para su posterior venta. Véase sobre esto el artículo de Grant McCall “Japan, Rapa Nui and Chile’s uncertain sovereignty”, en Rapa Nui Journal, tomo 9, 1 (1995). 9 Víctor Vergara, “La Isla de Pascua: Dominación y Dominio” (Seminario de Derecho Público, Memoria de Prueba Licenciatura en Leyes, Biblioteca Nacional 1939). 10 Véase
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